In Praise of My Zo
Zo is short for Zojirushi, the Japanese brand name of my bread machine. I purchased my first Zo in 1999, I believe, and yesterday it croaked--15 years later. Today I ordered a replacement, a slight upgrade from my old model.
The main distinctives of this brand and models similar to mine are these:
1. A powerful motor (for mixing stiff dough with ease)
2. A normal-shaped (horizontal-loaf) baking pan
3. Two mixing, kneading paddles instead of one
4. The ability to do custom settings for kneading, rising, etc.
5. A preheat cycle to bring all ingredients to the proper temp before mixing
6. A timer for delaying the start of the cycle
7. A dough cycle (which only mixes the dough and allows it to rise several times)
8. Many pre-programmed cycles
The new model has a heater in the lid for better browning of the top of the loaf. It also has a gluten-free bread cycle, which allows for the longer rising that is usually necessary.
I got my first Zo with money I was paid for the first article of mine that was published in Keepers at Home. The Zo came highly recommended by the baking experts at King Arthur Flour Company, from where I purchased it.
In recent years, I nearly always used the dough cycle only. With Susanna's European bread recipe halved and adapted slightly, I could make enough in one batch to fill two 4" x 8" loaf pans to bake in my conventional oven. The recipe uses butter, honey, rye flour, oatmeal, wheat bran, whole wheat flour, gluten, and dough enhancer. It also uses a small amount of white flour and the expected yeast, salt, and water. Reading about the bread machine before I ordered it makes me eager to try all sorts of other good bread, especially sourdough breads.
I've never owned a Bosch. I decided maybe I didn't need one when I realized that I don't really like the idea of making big batches of bread to stow in the freezer. I'd rather have fresh bread more often, especially if it takes as little tending as bread machine bread does. Basically, all I do is measure all the ingredients into the pan, secure it in the machine and push one or two buttons. When the "finished" signal sounds 1 hour and 50 minutes later, I take out the dough and put it into the pans to let it rise one more time. I bake it after it's finished rising. Unless I've forgotten something (like the salt), the bread is almost always pretty and tasty.
Sometimes I make mixes to speed up the process even more. Into one zippered bag go the wheat bran, oatmeal, and rye flour. I add these first to the water and honey that is already in the pan (to begin to soften the coarser grains). Next comes the whole wheat flour. In a separate bag I put the white flour. I used to measure out and put the salt, gluten, dough enhancer, and yeast in another bag. I think I will, from now on, leave out the yeast till I put everything together. I read today that putting yeast in direct contact with salt or sugar is a bad idea because it kills the yeast. After everything else is assembled, I dot it with butter.
After my new Zo arrives, I will do one thing differently than before: unplug it when it's not in use. I think lightening messed with the electronics on my old machine and disabled the delay timer function. If this one lasts as long as my first one did, I may never need to buy another bread machine.
I suspect a lot of women hesitate to let others know they use a bread machine, for the same reason they feel apologetic about using a dishwasher, as if using them somehow shows a lack of diligence and virtue. On this site, you're as safe as I can make you, so if you're a bread machine user, I'd love to hear from you.
The main distinctives of this brand and models similar to mine are these:
1. A powerful motor (for mixing stiff dough with ease)
2. A normal-shaped (horizontal-loaf) baking pan
3. Two mixing, kneading paddles instead of one
4. The ability to do custom settings for kneading, rising, etc.
5. A preheat cycle to bring all ingredients to the proper temp before mixing
6. A timer for delaying the start of the cycle
7. A dough cycle (which only mixes the dough and allows it to rise several times)
8. Many pre-programmed cycles
The new model has a heater in the lid for better browning of the top of the loaf. It also has a gluten-free bread cycle, which allows for the longer rising that is usually necessary.
I got my first Zo with money I was paid for the first article of mine that was published in Keepers at Home. The Zo came highly recommended by the baking experts at King Arthur Flour Company, from where I purchased it.
In recent years, I nearly always used the dough cycle only. With Susanna's European bread recipe halved and adapted slightly, I could make enough in one batch to fill two 4" x 8" loaf pans to bake in my conventional oven. The recipe uses butter, honey, rye flour, oatmeal, wheat bran, whole wheat flour, gluten, and dough enhancer. It also uses a small amount of white flour and the expected yeast, salt, and water. Reading about the bread machine before I ordered it makes me eager to try all sorts of other good bread, especially sourdough breads.
I've never owned a Bosch. I decided maybe I didn't need one when I realized that I don't really like the idea of making big batches of bread to stow in the freezer. I'd rather have fresh bread more often, especially if it takes as little tending as bread machine bread does. Basically, all I do is measure all the ingredients into the pan, secure it in the machine and push one or two buttons. When the "finished" signal sounds 1 hour and 50 minutes later, I take out the dough and put it into the pans to let it rise one more time. I bake it after it's finished rising. Unless I've forgotten something (like the salt), the bread is almost always pretty and tasty.
Sometimes I make mixes to speed up the process even more. Into one zippered bag go the wheat bran, oatmeal, and rye flour. I add these first to the water and honey that is already in the pan (to begin to soften the coarser grains). Next comes the whole wheat flour. In a separate bag I put the white flour. I used to measure out and put the salt, gluten, dough enhancer, and yeast in another bag. I think I will, from now on, leave out the yeast till I put everything together. I read today that putting yeast in direct contact with salt or sugar is a bad idea because it kills the yeast. After everything else is assembled, I dot it with butter.
After my new Zo arrives, I will do one thing differently than before: unplug it when it's not in use. I think lightening messed with the electronics on my old machine and disabled the delay timer function. If this one lasts as long as my first one did, I may never need to buy another bread machine.
I suspect a lot of women hesitate to let others know they use a bread machine, for the same reason they feel apologetic about using a dishwasher, as if using them somehow shows a lack of diligence and virtue. On this site, you're as safe as I can make you, so if you're a bread machine user, I'd love to hear from you.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
6:02 PM
4 Comments:
Miriam, I am sure you did not expect me to respond to this post. But I couldn't resist it. We entered into the Zo world last week for the first time. My Brother-in-law Tim brings merchandise down here to sell and I found this brand new bread machine... something we really have been wanting for some time. We got it for a very good price and tonight when I was reading over your blog, I came across this and read Ruth the advantages of your Zo over some other machines. I commented that we should have read this before purchasing one, but luckily, ours has the features you were praising. Then I wondered out to inspect the brand name on ours, and would you believe it. It is a Zo. No wonder. Praise God for leading us when we didn't even know it.
Duane
By
Duane Nisly, at 6/20/2014
Duane, that was a fun story! My new one arrived today and the first batch of bread is in the oven right now. Feel free to send questions my way if you need help figuring out your bread machine. I found that it's possible to use almost any recipe that works when done by hand, as long as you assemble the ingredients in the right order (that is, separate the yeast and the liquids), and use the right quantities. Some variation is possible, but I know that it works OK to use as much as 5 1/4 cups of grains in my machine--which makes 2 of the smaller, but still full-sized loaves. Have fun--and eat well!
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 6/20/2014
Yes, it is a fun story. I am wondering what the model number of yours is? Ours is a BB-CEC20. We are enjoying such delicious bread with so little effort. Ruth may be wanting to contact you personally for some of your recipes.
By
Duane Nisly, at 6/21/2014
My model No. is BB-PAC20. It's also referred to as the Virtuoso model. This is a slight upgrade from our previous one which was a BBCC-V20. "Traditional" is listed with the name on the cover of the old owner's manual. The power consumption number for both is 100W. You probably know if that means anything important or not.
One thing on the new one that surprised me was that it has both a quick dough and a basic dough cycle. The basic dough cycle looks the same as the only dough cycle on my previous machine. The puzzle though is that only the quick dough cycle calls for rapid-rising yeast, which I assume is the same as the Saf-Instant yeast from Glenns that I'm used to using for everything in the bread machine. The regular cycle calls for regular yeast--something I didn't know you could use in a bread machine.
I made bread dough last night exactly like my old recipe--in the regular dough cycle, and it turned out great. I use mainly one standard bread recipe, but I'd be happy to share that if you're seeking other tastes and textures. Although mine has some white flour, if you want to stick entirely with whole grains, I think you could probably do that, especially if you added a tablespoon or two of wheat gluten in the bottom of the whole wheat flour measuring cups. I'm not sure what all you have easy access to, and what makes sense for me might make less sense for you.
By
Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 6/21/2014
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